SPE
news and events 2012

News from the Centre for Sustainable
Planning and Environments.

October 2012

Exploring the role and function of smaller towns

Small towns are often overlooked in work on the
'urban' system. In this recently awarded project an
SPE
team of Professor Rob Atkinson and Dr Ian Smith will be working
with partners from four European universities to raise the profile
of smaller towns and identify the key characteristics of these
places. Smaller towns with a resident population of between 5,000
and 50,000 inhabitants are a particular feature of European
settlement patterns.

The project sits within the European Observatory for Territorial
Development and Cohesion (ESPON) 2013 research programme and is led
by the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium). As part of
this project, Dr Ian Smith contributed to the successful UK ESPON
Contact Point workshop in Cardiff on 24 September 2012 which
highlighted ESPON research with particular relevance to Wales.

Inter-regional migration and the importance of regional
attractiveness in Europe

Although an increasingly delicate political issue,
inter-regional movement either in the form of migration or in the
form of visiting is a vital aspect of contemporary European
economies and societies. The seminar timed to coincide with
meetings by the Committee of the Regions, will outline the types of
inter-regional mobility issues faced by European regions from the
out-migration of a swathe of Eastern Europe, to the super-heated
inward movement of migrants and tourists, to south-west Europe, as
well as setting out potential policy responses to the flows
experienced in particular regions.

Coping with these flows of people is not just ’problematic’ for
those regions that have ‘lost’ people in the period prior to the
economic crisis of 2008 but may also contribute to regional
fragility for super-heated attractor regions when policy-makers are
not mindful of encouraging integration within the destination
region. Equally different groups of ‘movers’ are looking for
different things in the places that they are heading to.

SPE
researchers Professor Rob Atkinson and Dr Ian Smith will be part of
the international research team presenting key findings on the
recently completed ATTREG (Attractiveness of European Regions and
Cities
for Residents and Visitors) project to key stakeholders in
Brussels on October 10 2012. The ATTREG project is a 3 year
project funded by the European Observatory for Territorial
Development and Cohesion (ESPON). The SPE
team worked with researchers from seven other countries in a
project led by the University of 'Rovera i Virgili' in Tarragona,
Spain.

Sustainable economic development and the statutory planning system
in England

The SPE
team members Dr Ian Smith and Dr Stephen Hall will be presenting
findings from a two year project with the University of Tours (the
CITERES research team) that has explored the ways in which economic
and environmental sustainability priorities are dealt with in the
local statutory planning systems in England and France.

The work funded by the French Inter-ministerial Committee on
research related to the built environment(PUCA) has explored how local plans claim to be
building sustainable places through planning for employment-related
development (such as factories, offices or business parks) and how
these projects take environmental issues into consideration through
the planning application process. Dr Smith and Dr Hall will
be presenting these findings to the 'PUCA'
committee in Paris on October 15 2012.

ESPON Map of the Month for October 2012

Work carried out by an SPE
team of Dr Ian Smith and Professor Rob Atkinson has been made map
of the month for October 2012. This was carried out within
the 'Attractiveness of European Regions and Cities
for Residents and Visitors' (ATTREG) project funded by the European
Observatory for Territorial Development and Cohesion (ESPON). ESPON
funded a piece of work involving nine European universities
and research units on the theme of inter-regional movement across
Europe.

September 2012

New research project on the Directly Elected Mayor for
Bristol

In November 2012, the citizens of Bristol
will, for the first time, have a direct say in who is to lead the
city. They will vote for the individual they wish to see
become the Directly Elected Mayor (DEM) of Bristol, and the new
Mayor will take over immediately after the election. It
follows that, in a very short period of time, the governance of
Bristol will be changed dramatically.

Researchers in the Centre for Sustainable
Planning and Environments, working closely with colleagues at the
School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, have won a
research grant to study the impact of the mayoral model of
leadership. Led by Professor Robin Hambleton, The Bristol Civic Leadership Prospects
Project will address important questions relating to the
future governance of the city. The findings of this evaluation will
be of interest to central government and others interested in
improving the effectiveness of local governance.

July 2012

Robin Hambleton gives BBC radio interview on Bristol
City Deal

On 5 July 2012 the Coalition Government announced details of the
extra powers it is granting to eight English cities. Known as ‘City
Deals’ the announcements can be viewed as attempt by the government
to refresh its localism agenda. Robin Hambleton was invited to
discuss the Bristol City Deal on Radio Bristol on the morning of
the announcement. He welcomed the City Deal, noting that it should
bring significant investment to the city region.

The plan aims to create an additional 60,000 jobs in the next
twenty years and promises radical improvements in public transport
– through the construction of the Greater Bristol Metro and a Bus
Rapid Transit network. He noted, however, that the plans do not go
far enough in devolving financial powers to local authorities and,
as a consequence, the City Deal does not do enough to strengthen
local democracy.

June 2012

New research report on local leadership launched at LGA
Conference

On 28 June 2012 Robin Hambleton and Joanna
Howard launched their new report on Public Sector Innovation
and Local Leadership in the UK and The Netherlands at the
Local Government Association (LGA) Annual Conference in
Birmingham.

Published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, this report
examines approaches to place-based leadership in three cities:
Bristol and Swindon in England, and Enschede in the
Netherlands.